Trevor's Flat Tyre
Plot It was a bright summer morning at the Vicarage Orchard. Trevor the Traction Engine was resting in his shed before getting up for the day. He was about to go out for a run in the field to start up when the Vicar of Wellsworth walked up to him. Trevor was curious; the Vicar often didn't approach him like this. "Trevor, I need you for a special task." he said. Trevor automatically grinned; he didn't have a lot to do at the orchard and liked having some time away from it. "You must take this cart full of supplies to the Sodor Dairy later today. They'll be used to help make milk, cheese, and butter for the people of Sodor. So this is an important job, Trevor." the Vicar continued firmly. "I understand, sir. An old traction engine like me can do it, surely." Trevor said excitedly. "Good then. Good luck on your job!" and the Vicar walked off. "Did you hear that, Jem?" Jem Cole chuckled as he walked up to the traction engine's shed. 'Yes, Trevor. I heard it all. Pretty excited, are we?" "Well, a bit," Trevor said modestly, "It's rare for a traction engine such as myself to get this kind of work." Jem Cole laughed. "Well, I'm sure you can do it! We want to make a good impression!" Trevor frowned. "Oh... Right..." "Something wrong?" "Well Jem, I don't mean to be...doubtful, but compared to all the other road vehicles, I seem to be rather weak." "I wouldn't worry about that sort of thing," said Jem Cole, "You're strong enough in your own way." Trevor felt a bit worried as he chugged out of the shed, "Well, we better fetch our coal... I think it'd be best if we do that before doing that errand." Soon, Trevor arrived at a petrol station, where Butch was filling up on petrol. On the other side of the road was a coal bunker for older vehicles like Elizabeth and Trevor. "Um... Butch, can I ask you something?" Butch looked over as Jem Cole started to shovel coal into Trevor's bunker. "Sure, Trevor. You can always ask me a question." "Well... I'm supposed to take some supplies to the dairy, but I'm a bit... nervous, shall we say? I mean, I'm a traction engine. It's usually a lorry that does this sort of work." Trevor explained. Butch chuckled. "Oh, don't worry Trevor. Even if you maybe a bit... primitive, you can still handle jobs." Trevor was suddenly a bit offended; he understood his age but he thought Butch was teasing him about it. "Well, being 'primitive' doesn't mean I can't be really useful! Hmph!" The coal was soon loaded, and Trevor chugged slowly away. Butch was confused. "Trevor? Trevor! I didn't mean it like that! Wait!" But Trevor was already steaming away. Butch sighed. "Oh no..." When Trevor got back to the Vicarage Orchard, the Vicar was waiting. "Nice to see you back, Trevor. The supplies are here, waiting for you." Trevor felt more determined than ever to do his job correctly. "Don't worry, sir! I won't let you down!" "I know." the Vicar said, and he walked over to his orchard to inspect the fruit. Slowly but surely, Trevor backed down onto the cart. Jem Cole clambered down, attached the cart to Trevor and climbed aboard his fellow friend. Trevor whistled. "Ready?" "As ready as ever." Jem Cole said. And so the two set off for the dairy. Soon, Trevor was out on the main road. He was a rather slow traction engine, but Trevor didn't mind; he liked looking at all the sights of Sodor. "There's the old tree besides the road," smiled Trevor as a bus honked at him, "And there's Jeremy, flying to the airport." Trevor was starting to cause a traffic jam, and more cars and buses started to honk at him. "Get off the road!" an old man yelled. Trevor sighed. "This is a bit slow... Hmm, I wonder how much longer it is until we get to the Sodor Dairy... I hope it's not too far... How much coal do we have, Jem Cole?" The farmer looked at Trevor's bunker. "I think it's just enough to get there, ol' boy. But let's fill up on the way back. We don't want to be stranded." "No we don't," chuckled Trevor, "I'm already slow as it is." But as he trundled along, he began to get more and more worried. "Jem, what if I'm not well-suited for this task?" "You pulled the cart all this way, didn't you?" Jem Cole replied. "Well...I guess but... still... I'm rather slow... and... Well, look at all those cars. Look at fast they're moving. They're modern. Not like me..." "I thought you liked being old-fashioned." "Maybe so, but it gets a bit.. well... I feel a bit left out of the modern technology, that's all." "Don't worry, ol' boy. You're special in your own way. Being powered on steam is nothing to be ashamed of. Just look at all the engines on the railways." Jem Cole said kindly. "But they go faster than me..." Trevor said sadly. Suddenly he felt something that felt a bit painful. The traction engine winced. "Jem, my tyre feels sort of funny…" Jem Cole immediately looked up. "Really? Let me see if I can find the problem…" But before Jem Cole could stop the traction engine, Trevor stopped himself. Trevor quickly started to panic. "Oh dear... Oh dear... This isn't very good... We're out on the main road! What are we to do?" "Fetch Butch I guess." Trevor scowled. "Him? He's just going to laugh at me!" "We don't have much of a choice. What popped the tyre?" "I think it was a tack on the road or something…" Trevor frowned. Jem Cole looked back at the road. "Oh... you're right." The farmer sighed. "Well, let's give the Rescue Centre a call." He got out his phone and dialed a number. Butch was resting at the Rescue Centre, waiting for a call to come in. Just then, his driver's phone rang. He answered the call. "Hmm? You say Trevor's tyre is punctured? Alright, we'll be there." Butch blinked in confusion. "What's going on, driver?" As the driver pressed the gas pedal, he started to explain the situation. "Well, Trevor has a flat tyre. This time he's out on the main road. We must do something about it." Butch immediately felt a bit guilty for what he said earlier, but he decided this was a good chance to apologize. "Right driver! Breakdown vehicle away!" Butch cried as he drove away quickly. "I sure do hope Trevor isn't causing any problems," Butch thought as he drove onto the road, "He has a bit of a speed complication..." Back on the road, Trevor sighed. "It is getting a bit lonely out here..." Jem Cole bit his lip as he looked back. "I wouldn't say that, ol' boy. Apparently cars are starting to honk at us." And he was right; a bigger traffic jam started to form behind Trevor. Cars had to use the other lane to pass him up, which was starting to cause delays. "Well, this isn't very good, now is it?" said Trevor. Elizabeth pulled up behind the traction engine and honked her horn indignantly. "What on Earth are you doing Trevor? Run out of coal again I presume...?" she snorted. "No Elizabeth... I got a flat tyre... Now I'm stuck here until Butch arrives…" Trevor sighed with defeat. "Goodness me, I'm absolutely thrilled(!) Couldn't you at least have the courtesy to stop on the side of the road instead? Now this delivery of coal is going to be late!" "Well, it's not exactly my fault…" Elizabeth scowled. "It's your carelessness that caused this annoyance in the first place!" Trevor felt flustered. "Well… Um…" "Now how am I supposed to go around you?" Elizabeth continued indignantly. "I'm more concerned about our delivery," replied Trevor, "I was supposed to take these supplies to the dairy, but it seems Sodor will get less milk products in the near future..." Elizabeth sighed. "Well, obviously you had to have an important delivery..." Trevor sighed. "How am I supposed to get to the Dairy now?" Elizabeth thought for a moment. "Hmm I don't know. Sorry I can't help..." Another horn blasted. "Elizabeth, go in the other lane! You're not exactly helping the situation!" a voice cried out. "Better than you are, Isobella," retorted Elizabeth as she started to drive away. "Isobella? Wait!" shouted Trevor. Isobella pulled up behind Trevor. "Yes?" "Are you delivering anything?" "Not exactly," replied Isobella, "I just got back from the construction site. Just delivered some fuel." Trevor's face brightened. "Thank goodness... Can you deliver these supplies for me?" "Well... I guess I could... I don't have anything else on my schedule for a while..." Isobella said slowly. "Thank you so much, Isobella. You're a life-saver." So the supplies were loaded onto Isobella. "Next stop, the Dairy!" Isobella said as she drove away. Trevor felt depressed. "Oh Jem Cole... I failed the only important job I've ever been given..." "Now, don't say that. It was just darn bad luck, that's all." the farmer replied. Trevor didn't seem convinced. Just then, a whistle blew. Trevor groaned; he recognized that whistle. "Well, well, well... Look what we have here." grunted a voice. It was George the Steamroller as he chugged behind Trevor and his cart. "What the heck are you doing just sitting here? A waste of space, that's what you are!" Trevor felt a bit hurt. "That's...not exactly nice to say, George..." "Well, sorry for not being an outdated machine like you..." George snorted, "Call yourself a road vehicle? Go to the scrapyards!" "Leave him alone, George! You're not really one to talk; at least Trevor has kindness. You have nothing." "Who said that?" George asked. "Me!" cried Butch as he backed down onto Trevor. Trevor and George were both confused. "Butch? Where'd you come from?" George grunted. "Oh. I've been sent to collect Trevor. Got into a few traffic jams, that's all." Butch explained. Trevor sniffed and looked down at the road. Butch couldn't help but cringe when he saw this. "Um... look, Trevor... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound negative; I was just trying to cheer you up. Guess it didn't work very well." Butch said quietly. Trevor looked up and gave a small smile. "Well, I forgive you, Butch. Come on; the Crosby Garage awaits!" Butch chuckled, while George grunted again. "All this sappy stuff is making me tired..." "Don't you have somewhere else to be, George?" snickered Butch. "Oh yeah... Well, you two are still bad examples of road vehicles." And George steamed away. "Just ignore that puffed up roller," consoled Butch, "He's silly." "Right... silly." Trevor said. Soon, Butch towed Trevor and his cart to the Crosby Garage, where Trevor would get a new tyre. He looked down and saw The Vicar of Wellsworth standing, walking up to him. Thinking he was in trouble, Trevor started to defend himself. "S-sir, I'm so sorry I messed up my new job, but-" "Trevor, there's nothing to be sorry about. It was just a tack on the road. Nothing serious. Could happen to any traction engine," the Vicar interrupted, "I just came here to gladly pay for your repairs." "Oh... Thank you sir," stuttered Trevor. The Vicar walked off, back to his car. Trevor looked to Butch. "Butch... Thank you for helping me when I was in a muddle today. Though I don't understand why you did after I was so sensitive," the traction engine said. "Well, you deserved to be rescued," Butch responded, "And you had an important delivery to make." Butch and Trevor grinned as Butch's hook was unhooked from Trevor. The breakdown vehicle honked his horn and drove off, into the afternoon. Characters * Trevor * George * Butch * Elizabeth * Isobella * Jem Cole * The Vicar of Wellsworth * Jeremy (does not speak) * BoCo (cameo) * Bear (cameo) * Captain (cameo) Category:Sodor Adventures